Cougar Town's Bill Lawrence Developing Cop Comedy For ABC

ABC has landed a cop comedy from Cougar Town co-creator Bill Lawrence. Feel the Force, which is based on the BBC2 series of the same name starring Michelle Gomez, has been given a put pilot commitment plus penalty by the network.

Lawrence, who was also behind previous ABC comedy hits such as Scrubs and Spin City, is writing and executive producing for the single-camera comedy. It centers on two female rookie cops joining a male-dominated police force and trying to prove themselves to their male counterparts. The UK version of the show ran for only one six-episode season in 2006. It co-starred Rosie Cavaliero and Emun Eliot, who did an arc on the first season of Game of Thrones. While we usually see the more successful British formats making the jump to American television, this one didn’t seem to fare well over there. It might be better suited for American audiences given the right cast.

Deadline says ABC landed the project in a competitive situation, and Lawrence’s long relationship with the network may have helped. It would take him back to having a regular series on ABC after they dropped Cougar Town, which then made the move over to TBS with Lawrence stepping down as showrunner at the same time. Feel the Force also puts Lawrence back on a workplace comedy, which is something he does very well. I hope they consider a name change on this one, however, as I can’t say I am a big fan of the original one.